Cassie in burnt orange

I made a little tank dress with a matching top for Cassie... I'm hoping these will be very useful and versatile items in both her working and her weekend wardrobe. The two pieces can be worn together as a smart/casual ensemble; also either the tank dress OR the loose top can be worn with a pencil skirt and cardigan to work; the tank dress can be worn alone or as a tunic with with jeans as a casual weekend option, or as a petticoat underneath a sheer dress; and the top can be worn with shorts or whatever. And imho the colour is absolutely glorious with her strawberry blond hair!!

I bought the rich orange cotton-poly mesh from Tessuti's in Melbourne during our weekend away together, and both pieces are self-drafted. The tank dress is a pretty simple silhouette; but sewing it together was like an exercise in spatial thinking. The fabric is completely sheer so I made it double-layered, both layers are completely sewn together before the whole dress was finally pulled right side through a gap in the lower hemline, which was hand slip-stitched closed as the very last thing. Meaning, all the seams are enclosed between the two dress layers. I was so pleased when it worked out successfully! The fabric was lightweight enough that the whole thing could be bunched up and pulled through a 10cm gap quite easily. The outer layer is 6cm longer than the inner layer, so the joining seam sits on the inside of the dress, 3cm from the lower fold.

below right; the finished dress was pulled right side out through the short gap in the hemline joining seam at lower right, now hand slip-stitched closed,

The top is also self-drafted, and loosely based upon the shape of the pieces in a very simple top that I've had for years, designed by a Melbourne company, tutte which seems to be no longer around. Basically, the front and back panels are straight rectangles, and the side panels and sleeves are cut as one piece each, on the fold at the top of the sleeve/shoulder: like capital T's with the downstroke as the sleeve.

I cut the neckline as a gracefully curved scoop, extending and joining the front and back panels at the shoulder, and added double thickness "flaps" at the lower edge of the front and back that enclose the raw edges. I hand-stitched the side panel lower edges and and sleeve hems in a narrow rolled edge, and finished the neckline with a long strip, stitched on the right side, turned under and hand-stitched around the inside.

Details:
Top and dress; self-drafted, in slightly stretchy cotton-poly mesh. I think it could be this stuff...

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